D. Salters/WENN.com

These are the times we need to applaud the video vixens.

Former video vixen Melyssa Ford, who has long since turned in her video attire, recently joined a major real estate company.  According to Allhiphop.com, Ford has joined Blu Realty Group, a full-service luxury real estate company in Nww York. She’s joining the team as a real estate broker so you know she’s going to use her contacts in the entertainment world to bring big dollars to the company.

Blu Realty is a very serious player in the real estate industry. Owned by Chadad and Moshe Balalo, Blu Realty closed over $100 million in property sales last year.  That’s huge for a somewhat small company.

Ford, who has a degree in Forensic Psychology, took an intense three month class at Blu Realty which included training from a real estate teacher and mentoring from the owners.

Chadad Balalo is very eager to get started:

“We are extremely excited to have Melyssa on board with Blu Realty.  Ms. Ford will add a high net worth clientele base to our already diverse client list in New York.”

Ford has actually already help them close a $15 million deal in New York. It looks like she is ready to take this new career by storm!

Do you have any side hustles? Have you switched careers completely to possibly fulfill a new passion?

Have you experienced this: you like a song only to like it less after seeing a disappointing video? On the flip side, have you loved a song only after seeing the amazing video that came from it? I often wonder why so many artists, especially the ones who have the clout, don’t exercise their right to create complementary videos that take their songs to the next level. Just like a great film, a four-minute video can really enhance the meaning and story of a song.  And we know that vision is even more critical to a song that wants to communicate heartbreak, longing, and romance.  These videos did just justice to their songs of origin by integrating narratives, scenes, and landscapes to create a story. In a sea of videos shot on soundstages, these stand out amongst the pack. Do you agree with my selections? Sound off in the comments section.

Lauryn Hill – Turn Your Lights Down Low

Director: Francis Lawrence

Hands down, this is the most perfect video I’ve seen in terms of how it heightened my appreciation for the song. Lauryn Hill’s reinterpretation of the original song by Bob Marley takes us to a beautiful and lush Jamaica. The colors, Rohan on a motorcyle, the close-ups of Lauryn pinning her hair, the intimate house party, and the next morning at the beach equals a perfect look at a beautiful 24 hours in a Caribbean town. Although the relationship with Rohan is not the focal point of the video, it is a beautiful backdrop. Who could forget them walking into the house party in utter darkness?

By T. Hall

It’s autumn, which is my favorite time of year for three reasons:  sweater dresses, the pumpkin patch, and HOMECOMING SEASON!!! As an HBCU alumni (go Hampton!), homecoming has a special place in my heart – it’s a time when I can reunite with friends who knew me back when I had a terrible perm and braces, and reflect on how far we’ve all come. For those of you that don’t know (and even those of you who do), here are the seven bomb-est aspects of an HBCU homecoming.

It’s not easy getting to the top. Or heck, near the top for that matter. And before some of these celebs could do very big things, they had to pay their dues and do what they needed to for experience, and of course, money. When you’re trying to hustle in Hollywood, nobody’s too good to do a little somethin’ somethin’ in a music video to pay the rent. Especially when you’re a so-called “model.” Check out these 10 celebrities who got face time in music videos before they could move to the big screen.

Boris Kodjoe – “Red Light Special”

Before he met and married Nicole Ari Parker and had two kids, had a defunct TV show, and was named one of People‘s “Most Beautiful People In The World,” Kodjoe was a prostitute.

In a music video. Ha! I had you fooled didn’t I? But seriously, the former model-turned-actor showed up in the TLC video, “Red Light Special” to lick T-Boz’s foot and make the boa look on a man fierce! I also wasn’t mad at the ab action and striptease he tried to pull near the end of the video. I can’t see Kodjoe doing this now, but it wouldn’t hurt for him to get back out there and drop it like it’s hot in a video. What else does he really have going on?

bossip.com

Ahhh, the video chick.  We hate them, we love them and then we hate them again.  I know its not the most respectable job in the music industry but if the women can manage to parlay that into something better for themselves, I say more power to them! Let’s check out a few of the ladies who’ve made it past the drop it like its hot stage…

Music time!

Folks are all over the place performing and filming music videos. Rihanna and Drake, who would still make an adorable couple in my opinion, just released a preview of their video for the song, “Take Care.” The actual premiere of the video in its entirety isn’t until tonight, around 7:56 p.m. EST on MTV. The video seems a lot darker and more stripped than their last video together, “What’s My Name,” so I guess we’re going to see a softer side of the two. On top of that, Nicki did “Starships” for the “TODAY” show, Jennifer Lopez dropped a new video for her track with Pitbull called “Dance Again,” and new Roc Nation starlet Rita Ora finally released a video. The song is featuring UK rapper Tinie Tempah and is called “R.I.P.” Anywho, you tell us if you’re feeling them. Enjoy!

Nicki:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

J.Lo

Rihanna and Drake (excuse Sway who is all up and through the beginning of the short clip…):

Rita Ora:

Are these songs a pass or play for you?

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From Necole Bitchie.com

Andre 3000 is not on twitter. He’s not on facebook.  And he rarely does interviews. He’s the perfect example of  an artist retaining their mystique in a world were everyone is dishing their every thought on social networks.

Even though he has pretty much kept himself out of the public eye since he and Big Boi finished collecting the accolades they racked up from the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below LP, he’s built up anticipation for a new album by blessing artists like Beyonce,  Drake, Jeezy, Chris Brown and Ke$ha with guest verses over the few years.  But although he’ll write a verse here and there, Andre 3000 is not sitting around writing rhymes all day and he’s definitely not up to being in anyone’s videos.

Fader recently snagged one of his rare interviews. See what he had to say below.

On Collaborations and supporting Chris Brown

Most of the time it has to be the music. The music has to kinda move me in some kind of way. Sometimes it’s emotionally, sometimes it’s just being there supporting another person. Even the Chris Brown remix—of course I love the beat, but at that time a lot of people were on Chris Brown as a human being. And I know he’d gone through his troubles or whatever and I just was like—I just wanted to stand by him and be like, Hey, you know, you can’t really charge a man forever and condemn a man forever. So it’s really just like a support thing. I thought it was a cool thing to do.

On why he hasn’t appeared in videos [ Ex. Beyonce's 'Party' music video] 
When I would get these calls from artists, I felt great about it. At the same time, I never wanted to tease people in a way where I’d be in the video and then they won’t see me for another ten years or anything. So, you know, when I would talk to these artists and we’d agree that we’d do these songs, we would all be in agreement that it was just vocals. There was no visual or anything. Every artist I work with from Beyonce, from Young Jeezy and Jay-Z, from BoB, it was all understood before my first rhyme was written that there was going to be no videos. And I always felt like—you know, I haven’t been in even in a video with Big Boi—it’s kind of disrespectful of me if I can just jump in a video with a new artist and I haven’t even jumped in the video with my own partner. [...] I just feel like—it just didn’t seem like a right time to do it. If it’s not my project or an Outkast thing, or you know, if I’m supporting Big Boi, then it just didn’t make sense for me. It just didn’t feel right doing it.

Read the rest of Andre 3000′s interview where he talks about the state of Hip Hop and getting older at Necole Bitchie.com. 

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Web sites such as Gawker and The Stir have raised awareness of a viral video showing the sad beating of a teen girl with cerebral palsy. The young woman is attacked by her father with what he himself describes as a “large belt” in the clip for a misdeed that is unclear — but seems to involve something as simple as the girl placing an unwanted program on a computer. The circumstances surrounding this corporeal punishment are complicated further by the fact that the father executing this spanking is allegedly “William Adams, a judge running for re-election in Aransas County, Texas” (The Stir).

Of course this YouTube clip is now being used as a political tool in the region by Adams’ political opponents, who seek to prove that the man is unfit to sit on the bench — particularly if it involves judging child abuse cases. But instead of turning a horrible family drama into fodder for election scandal, this video of a father beating a daughter who already has a physical handicap should raise moral and ethical questions about how to raise a family. These questions are much more important to how we live our daily lives. This clip might be difficult for some of you to watch, but it will get you thinking about the role that physical punishment should or should not play in raising children:

As horrible as this is, I suspect that this level of intensity is often employed by parents, particularly in the south, in order to ensure that their children obey their wishes. In the black community, spanking, beating, “getting out the extension cord,” and cutting limbs off trees to pummel disobedient youngsters is not only common; it is also routinely joked about by stand up comics and our own relatives at family dinners.

On The Stir, a blogger wrote a follow up story about this video full of emotional angst concerning the plight of the young girl pictured above layered on top of her own disbelief that any parent could treat a child this way. In particular, she enumerates in detail her own extensive patience with her six-year-old who she would never beat, not even for engaging in a disruptive temper tantrum. Of her own misbehaving kid, Jeanne Sage writes:

Looking at my daughter’s tear-stained face through eyes clouded by sleep, I softened. I knew her tantrum was over something patently ridiculous, and yet I couldn’t imagine raising a hand to her.

She was acting in a way that she was clearly old enough to understand was inappropriate. And yet, a hand, a foot, a belt on her body weren’t going to make that stop. It would hurt her body and make her distrust me … and distrust the words I was about to use to explain why her actions were so inappropriate. It would effectively negate my ability to actually parent, to teach her to improve her behavior. I’d be hurting her physically now, and hurting myself in the end.

Well, that’s all well and good for you Jeanne. I’m glad you got the opportunity to use someone else’s misfortune to highlight what an excellent parent you are. But that is beside the point really. The real issue is corporeal punishment, it’s limits of effectiveness, and a parent’s judgement regarding how to use it. The relatively of its appropriateness to adults seems to vary according to race, culture and region.  And many people say it depends on the kid. Some kids are just really bad and only respond to being spanked.

Of course, the obviously sensitive young lady in this video did not deserve such punishment. But in the privacy of one’s home in which a child is powerless, a girl such as her is at the mercy of a parent who might have horrible judgement about the use of force. It’s very unfortunate that this father, as a judge by profession, has such terrible judgement regarding how to treat his daughter. And the mother is no better. Clearly a situation of dysfunction. I hope William Adams loses the election, and that the loss of his role as a judge of the conduct of others forces him to reflect on his own.

But this is also an instance for all of us to reflect on beating kids. I am personally against parents beating their children for the overwhelming majority of cases. In particular, in the black community there is an issue with corporeal punishment being used too flagrantly, and usually out of proportion to the “crimes” of the child. I am sure many of you are watching this viral video and don’t even think of this as a beating, while on mainstream sites this is seen as outrageously violent. What does this say about the overuse of spanking among blacks?

In considering this relativity of opinion, would you re-classify some of the treatment you witnessed and received as a child as abuse? What do you think of the video and the use of force against a disabled child who is disobedient?

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Pics from Beyonce’s ‘Party’ video shoot have been circulating for what feels like forever but the wait is finally over. The super fun trailer park video featuring cameos from Solange and Kelly Rowland has the perfect summer vibe (too bad it’s almost November).

Everyone’s curious about why J Cole appeared in the video with a new verse instead of Andre 3000 who appears on the original track, but when you think about him being her hubby’s artist and Roc Nation managing Bey’s career, it’s probably safe to assume this was a PR move to boost the rapper’s career.

It’s also safe to say Khia, who jumped on the rip-off accusation bandwagon by accusing King B of remaking the video from her one hit wonder “My Neck My Back,” is the one who has in fact been “smoking rocks.” Khia must be high if she thinks Beyonce’s hit won’t be bigger than hers. It probably already is.

How do you think ‘Party’ stacks up to ‘Love on Top’ and ‘Countdown?’

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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New music from Monica is always a good thing—throw in Missy Elliott and Jazmine Sullivan behind the scenes and you’ve got greatness. Monica has just released the video for her new single “Until It’s Gone” off of her album, “New Life,” scheduled for release November 29.  Warning: The video,  featuring Brian J. White and Malinda Williams,  is a bit of a tear jerker — so be prepared.

What do you think? Are you feeling Monica’s new single?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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